How to test your Firewall software

The Windows 10 operating system offers a powerful built-in Windows Firewall that prevents hackers or malicious software from gaining access to your computer through a network or the Internet. Although the built-in firewall is good for most users, some users prefer to use a third-party free Firewall software. Now if you want to test how good your Firewall is, these three free online Firewall Test & Post Scan services will conduct probative protocol tests on them and tell you how well they are doing their job.

Free Online Firewall Test

A firewall is merely the first line of defense for any system’s security. As such, one should not rely solely on its ability to stop all the potential threats floating on the Internet. All sorts of misfortunes can occur for which a firewall is about as useful as ducking to cover for a big explosion.

Gibson Research Privacy

The best method to check the strength and functioning of a firewall system is to try and breach its security. ShieldsUP! tests your firewall for such vulnerabilities.

When you choose a test type and agree to give ShieldsUP! permission to run tests on your computer, it looks for potential weaknesses and openings that can be used to attack your system. If there are no threats found, your system will get a green signal indicating it has achieved a perfect “TruStealth” rating.

You can test your firewall via Shields Up! in five different categories. These include,

File sharing

Common ports

All service ports

Messenger spam

Browser headers.

Once the test is complete, results are displayed alongside solution that can help you improve your security. In my case, no vulnerability was noted.

A good feature about using Shields Up! Is that NO INFORMATION gained from your use of the service is retained, viewed or used by us or anyone else in any way for any purpose whatsoever. Visit grc.com to run the test.

Hackerwatch

It is a website to report and share information about Internet threats. By collecting and analyzing users’ firewall activity, the website can sense any suspicious activity, identify intrusion attempts, track complex attack patterns, and disclose the sources and targets of Internet threats. It mainly uses two methods,

Simple Probe

Port Scan

Select, any one option by visiting here and click the ‘Hit me’ button to generate the results. All results or reports will be represented as graphical snapshots containing critical port incidents graphs, worldwide port activity statistics, and target and source maps showing unwanted traffic and potential threats to Internet security. It may take up to 2 minutes for the results to be displayed. Also, note that if your only connection to the internet is through a proxy server or NAT, this test will not work as expected for you. Instead, the proxy itself will be tested, and the results will not actually apply to your computer. Visit hackerwatch.org to get started.

Audit My PC

The service is quite useful for testing remote desktop services, FTP servers and other services running on non-standard ports. It checks a system for commonly used ports and tests the ones commonly used by Viruses and Trojans. The test conducted by Audit My PC is extremely fast and maintains accuracy. The best part of the scan is that you don’t need to install anything for this online firewall test to run, you simply need to pick a port, or range of ports, to probe.

To avoid getting incorrect results, temporarily disable the auto-blocking feature (not the firewall), or you will likely get incorrect results

Also note that if you are running on a private network, (you may be connected to a router, proxy, or firewall) the firewall test may be conducted on other devices instead of your computer. For example, you are working for some company and using its network to audit the computer at your desk; the test will audit the company firewall instead of your PC’s firewall.

Note: This services seems to be currently temporarily down.

Before the test starts, auditmypc.com reminds users that the service cannot be held responsible for any damage resulting from the use of its firewall test as users agree to the terms and conditions of the service before using it.

Thus, you can ensure that your Firewall is working as desired by running these free online Firewall tests. If you are aware of any more such services, do let us know about them and their features in the comments section below.

The author Hemant Saxena is a post-graduate in bio-technology and has an immense interest in following Windows, Office and other technology developments. Quiet by nature, he is an avid Lacrosse player. Creating a System Restore Point first before installing a new software, and being careful about any third-party offers while installing freeware is recommended.

2 Comments

This is all well and good but the article leaves out a very critical piece of information: on nearly all modern networks, a software firewall has little to do with the Stateful Packet Inspection that is built into most consumer NAT routers. That is to say, the results of a web port scan such as those listed in this article will only show you how well your *router’s* firewall is configured; it will not tell you anything useful about whatever firewall is on your PC – a software firewall is far more useful to monitor and restrict OUTbound traffic than inbound in most cases for most users, IMO.